Under the muddy brown sky that is full of stars, sitting while noting what the events happened, Cap'n Cuttlefish is watching the trio super jumping their way back as he stands up and puts his Bamboozler cane on the ground of a rooftop.

As the trio arrived, Agent 1, 2 and 3 returned with a zapfish while miserable.

Agent 2 hands over a inkstained Hero Slosher which shocks Cap'n Cuttlefish and then he lowers his head.

"Oh dear. That's another agent gone."

"Agent 3 requested not to clean it up. She wanted to remember Daigo despite only seeing him for a single day." Said Agent 2.

Being friends with Daigo after they met is one thing Agent 3 wanted to cherish after they teamed up.

Now it's all covered in pink ink.

Cap'n Cuttlefish can see Agent 3's eyes that are filled with loneliness and fear of losing more of her loved ones.

"I understand. You should go back."

Afterwards, Agent 3 collapses with a thud which had Agent 1, 2 and Cap'n Cuttlefish gasping in shock.

"Rei!" Agent 1 exclaimed, leading her and Agent 2 to pick her up out of desperation.

Little did they know that Agent 3 is still breathing as she's snoring.

"My my, looks like Agent 3 is tired out after all that work she made." Cap'n Cuttlefish rubs his beard as he's surprised.

"Phew. I thought something bad happened to her." Agent 2 sighs.

"Yeah. Geez, this girl!" Agent 1 is also relieved to see that Agent 3 is still okay after what happened earlier.

With both Agent 1 and 2 picking up Agent 3 and removing the hero gear from her as well as themselves, Callie and Marie are taking Rei home as Callie gives Rei a piggyback ride.

"See ya, gramps!" Callie called as she waved.

"Bye, gramps!" Marie called.

"See ya soon, ladies! Stay out of trouble!" Cap'n Cuttlefish waves back.

"Like what are we, five?" Marie asks out of displeasure as Callie giggles.

Finally, the trio leaves Octo Valley together, leaving Cap'n Cuttlefish all alone by his shack.

14015 May 30th

Inkopolis

The next morning, groaning in her sleep, Rei can feel something soft and a little cooler, leading her to open her eyes slowly.

"Wake up." A voice called.

"Huh?" Rei pushes herself up to her backside, only to see an inkling girl looking similar to her except she's in a hero gear with a cape on. "Ooh!~ You look so cool!"

"Enough. Rei, your trial has just begun." A similar inkling said as her voice sounded sharper than Rei's.

"Trails?"

"Yes. You didn't know what happened to Daigo?"

"Huh?" Rei gasps, remembering what happened to him earlier which caused her to freeze.

"That's right. Why else do you think turf wars are just wars with too much safety and protection to prevent any casualties. What you just saw is true death, Daigo is gone forever." Said the unknown inkling.

Rei couldn't process as if she's turned off by the fact that she let Daigo die.

"Your trial is to accept reality. Your mother abandoned you, you're put in a life and death situation which is basically suicide missions and how you view the world is nothing but an illusion since your small brain looks at nothing but positive." The unknown inkling calls out.

Rei has no understanding what all of that means as she has nothing to do and was trying to stay positive.

"W- Well, if that's what it is, then I'll do it!" Rei concludes as the unknown inkling sighs and slides her hand onto her face.

"Liar… You knew you can't accept it all. If you really do, then think about it." The unknown inkling stands up from a bed and walks towards an opened door. "We will meet again."

"Wait. Who are you?" Rei is curious as the inkling turns around with her orange eyes looking into Rei's cyan eyes.

"I am Zero. I am you who's about to exist and replace you." Zero answers and marches her way out with Rei following her.

"Wait! Zero!" Running out of the bedroom, Rei follows as she wants to know why Zero looks exactly like her, but with different eye colours.

Rei is supposed to catch up, but Zero vanishes with no traces.

Rei appears in a living room apartment as she can see Marie playing with her phone.

"Zero…"

"Who?" Marie turns her head up, confused about what Rei said earlier.

"Oh! Agent 2!" Rei turns with surprise.

"You can call me Marie since we're not working." Marie sighs.

"Oh, then Marie!"

"And I see you're awake, Rei. Callie's making breakfast in the kitchen. I was thinking of giving you some toast, but Callie was so insistent on cooking rice."

"Oh cool!" Rei is glad that breakfast is being made after the incident happened yesterday.

"Hm? You seemed a little down. Is it something that happened yesterday?" Marie asks.

"Eh? Oh… Yeah…" Rei lowers her head as she remembers her own friend being torn apart in front of her.

'You're put in a life and death situation which is basically suicide missions' is what she was told earlier which had her shaking her head.

Is Zero telling her the truth?

As for Marie, she puts down her phone and sits right in front of Rei while crossing her legs on a sofa.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Daigo's death won't be in vain. Possibly." Marie shakes her head, trying to think of something else. "Ngh… Do you really want to continue this mission after what happened? You know it's bad for your mental health."

Rei took some deep breaths, only for her to keep calm and move forward.

"Yeah. I'm sure Dai wanted us to continue! I bet there's other guys like him!"

"You have no idea…" Marie grunts as memories of dead inklings are seeping in her mind.

As both Rei and Marie walk towards the table, Callie is humming in the kitchen while cooking some rice as a toaster pops out.

"Hm? Really, Marie? toast?"

"What? Can't a kid start something simple?" Marie calls through the door and appears through it.

"But I just cooked some rice for her!" Callie snaps.

"I'd rather bread for breakfast!"

"But egg rice!" Callie shouts.

"Jam!" Marie retorted.

"Rice ball!"

"Bagel!"

"Ooh! Why you gotta be such a boring broad, Hotaru!?" Callie yelled.

"At least I'm not as annoyingly convoluted as you are, Aori!" Marie yelled.

Going between the Calamari cousins, Rei took a piece of toast and a bowl of rice, leading her to turn towards the table out of the kitchen.

"Why not both?" Rei asks which stops both cousins and 'mothers' from fighting.

"Eh!?" Callie halts.

"Oh, I forgot, that debate is supposed to be at the Splatfest in June. Squit…" Marie had noted what she had forgotten about.

"Uh… Maybe we should eat." Callie laughs nervously as Marie and Rei agree.

A couple of minutes later at the living room table, Callie, Marie and Rei are eating rice and toast together as the trio are acting as a family, in which Cap'n Cuttlefish stated earlier: Callie and Marie being mothers to Rei.

Since the time is 05:18, Callie and Marie stand up from their seats after finishing their meals after they prayed.

Later after they change clothes as Callie wears a pink beanie and jacket, Marie appears in a kimono dress as the duo are opening the door.

"We're off." Marie calls while handing over the keys to Rei.

"Ehh? Where are you two going?" Rei asks.

"To see your mother of course. We're about to go through some legal parenting, now that you're a part of the Calamari family." Marie continued.

"Oh. See ya!" Rei waves with excitement.

"And once we do, we'll homeschool you and help you with your educational status."

Finally the door closes, leaving Rei to have the house all to herself.

A tapping noise has her catching attention until…

"Zero!? Where have you been?" Rei is surprised to see Zero sitting at a similar table.

"Outside. Why? Oh, about Callie and Marie, they're about to keep you in."

"I know."

Zero then turns towards Rei as her orange eyes are piercing through Rei's cyan eyes.

"Since You're willing to continue your foolish actions, then you won't be able to live and see tomorrow. Then again, you are ignorant after all." Zero stands up again as Rei follows.

"Wait! Why do you look like me?"

"The better question is: WHY do YOU look like ME?" Zero asked a similar question that had Rei shocked and followed Zero.

"Zero!"

With Rei leaving the apartment, she forgot to lock the door after leaving the house.

Octo Valley

Chilling with the rapping song playing, Cap'n Cuttlefish is enjoying his time until a shadow above him is disturbing his relaxation.

"Hey." A cold toned voice called.

"Snrk- Huh!?"

"Hey, gramps." Appearing above is Rei as she looks worried.

"Ah! Oh, Rei, it's you… So what brings you here?" Cap'n Cuttlefish asks.

"Well… I had this friend and she's running towards the Octo Valley. She looks like me but with orange eyes." Rei describes Zero's appearance.

Cap'n Cuttlefish is rubbing his beard with confusion, knowing that Rei herself looks desperate.

"Hmm… Did this lassie go in the same direction as you?"

"I think so…" Rei turns towards the direction where she's last been. "Gramps, what weapon do you have? I kinda lost my Splattershot Jr back at home."

"Oh, you came at just the right time! The young lad Sheldon from the Ammo Knights has modified a Splattershot to be something for the one who has potential. Meet the Hero Shot. I don't know how it works, but back in my day we used to have a charger called a Bamboozler and now it's a cane to help my cuttlebones."

A shot so unusual that Rei was able to get her hands on, Rei grabs a gun called Hero Shot which means she's now the official member of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

"Woah…~ Cool!~ Thank you, gramps!" Rei cheered while she hugged Cap'n Cuttlefish with joy.

"Oh! You're welcome. Now, before you come back, can you bring back the zapfish."

"Sure, but one question."

"Lay it on me."

"Who is Aori and Hotaru?" Rei is curious to know why Callie and Marie call each other that name.

"Aori and Hotaru… Ah! I remember! Those are Callie and Marie's real names. Callie is Atarime Aori and Marie is Atarime Hotaru. You see, my nickname is Craig Cuttlefish, as everybody calls me Captain Craig Cuttlefish. My real name is Atarime Yoshio." Cap'n Cuttlefish reveals his true identity as well as Callie and Marie's, making Rei fascinated by their lives.

"Ooh, so gramps name is Yoshio? Nice. See ya! Wait for me, Zero!"

Finally, Rei, who was Agent 3 again, super jumps her way towards the empty battlefield as a squid while Cap'n Cuttlefish holds out his shellphone.

With the phone beeping, the phone answered as it surprised him.

[Gramps?] Callie's voice called with yelling in the background.

"Callie. So what's going on on your side?" Cap'n Cuttlefish asked.

[Well… Not so much] Callie lied. [You see, Rei's mother refused to let her daughter go after we called her out on her abusive behaviour.]

[More like a selfish cowfish who wouldn't stop screaming that her daughter lost the turf war.]

[I think she's a little angry…]

[More like she's pissed! All she wanted was the money!] Marie exclaims.

[Already got it covered. Sorry, gramps!] Callie apologises.

"Oh no! Not at all! Take your time."

Beep.

Cap'n Cuttlefish sighs as Callie and Marie are actually doing something useful for once.

Then a different inkling shows up with a zapfish and drops it near Cap'n Cuttlefish.

"Ah, Agent 3.4, you finally cake back with the zapfish!"

As the inkling sighs, he turns to the side while watching Agent 3 diving down.

"So, did she take it?"

"Indeed she did." Cap'n Cuttlefish answered with his usual attitude.

"Good."

As both inklings are watching, Agent 3.4 is waiting for other inklings to catch up to Rei and then sits down by drinking a bottle of water.

All Cuttlefish remembers is Callie and Marie struggling to have Rei as their legal daughter.